Every year when the Kansas State Fair is on, Joey knows he has to take me so I can get a Pronto Pup and an ice cream cone from the Kansas Dairy Assoc?ia?tion.

Some people go for the booths or the rides or the people-watching; I just go for the food.

That?s why I was almost uncontrollably giddy when I tried a recipe for homemade corn dogs this week, and they tasted incredibly close to a fresh, Fair-made Pronto Pup.

The recipe for these glorious corn dogs comes from a blog called ?Jo Cooks.? You can find the original at http://www.jocooks.com/main-courses/beef-main-courses/mini-corn-dogs/.

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Mini Corn Dogs

Ingredients

8 hot dogs, cut in half

Vegetable or canola oil for frying

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 to 3/4 cup milk (I used one percent.)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat about four inches of oil in a heavy pan until the oil reaches 350 degrees. (I have a fryer, so I used that.)

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, milk (I ended up adding 3/4 cup rather than just 1/2), and salt and pepper, and mix well.

Dip the hot dogs in the batter, coating well. (You can put the hot dogs on sticks if you desire; I just picked mine up out of the batter with a fork).

Drop the hot dogs a few at a time into the oil, turning to cook evenly and frying for about two to three minutes or until golden brown.

Remove and place on a paper-towel-lined plate.

If you decide to put these on sticks, the recipe author suggests putting the batter in a tall glass to make dipping easier. I tried putting mine on sticks at first, but the hot dogs kept slipping off into the batter, so I gave up.

You could also probably make these with full hot dogs rather than halves, but the smaller size was really easy to maneuver in the batter; I don?t know if the full-sized ones would be as easy, but it might be worth a shot.

These tasted amazingly fresh (I had to stop myself before I accidentally consumed an entire pack of hot dogs by myself), but they also reheated really well, which I was pretty excited about.

I won?t be changing my Kansas State Fair food order anytime soon, but these corn dogs are a good way to hold me over in the meantime.

Now if I could just find a good substitute for the ice cream, I?d be set.

When not helping husband Joey with newspaper work, Lindsey teaches speech, debate and forensics at Haven High School. She can be reached at lindseyclarion@gmail.com.